Oct. 26, 2006 - CUMBY - When it comes to playing the game of football, senior Lindsey Cross is more of a role player than your everyday starter.

That is because he suffers from asthma and coach Kent Hawthorne said he had made a goal for Cross this season.

"My goal for Lindsey was for him to finish the year up not being in the hospital and not being sick since he has had a few problems with it this year and has missed a few practices," Hawthorne said. "Lindsey is a position-type player that will come in and run some things for us. He has quick feet and he helps us on special teams and runs some receiver for us during the games. Hopefully he will get some playing time Friday night, and he is a role player on the team and he knows his role."

Cross, the son of Virgil and Nita Cross, is the oldest of two kids and said playing football is something that he loves.

"I like to play paint-ball here and there with a bunch of my friends. Besides that, it is football, school, paint-ball and a few other things," he said. "The team work is a big reason why I play and you know every one that you are playing with year-round, and it is just fun."

Cross said being a role player is something he takes seriously and with the success the Trojans have had during district they are ready for a playoff berth. �

"I want to be a team leader and help out as much as I can. I want to help my team get into the playoffs and get pretty far this year," he said. "I want to try and have something for everybody else to look at, and a gold ball is one of them. But just to have something with my name on it for everyone down the road to look at is my goal this year."

With only seven seniors on the team after two players quit earlier in the year, Cross said the team has grown closer together since their departure.

"It kind of hurt us because they left us on a Wednesday and then we didn't have much time to prepare," the player said. "Even though they left us, it is not that big of a deal because if you leave us then you are not a part of the family anymore."

This season, the Trojans have been following the motto One Team: One Heartbeat and recently the team has come together for a first place tie in district play.

"If you think about it earlier this season, we were not playing very good. It was more of an individual and not a team effort but after (the two players) quit, we more or less thought about it and knew that we had to come together as a team," Cross said.

"I believe that is one of the reasons that we are doing great right now. If we keep our minds set to it and keep the intensity up, I think we will do pretty good."

Cross said after high school he will be attending the Ford auto mechanic school in Dallas on scholarship and then plans on working for the Ford Motor Company.

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